JCM July 2002 Issue

December 2002

Issue: 27

Microsoft's New Database Modeling Tool: Part 8
by Dr. Terry Halpin and Patrick Hallock

This is the eighth in a series of articles introducing the Visio-based database modeling component of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect. Part 1 showed how to create a basic ORM source model, map it to a logical database model, and generate a DDL script for the database schema. Part 2 discussed the verbalizer, independent object types, objectified associations, and some other ORM constraints. Part 3 showed how to add set-comparison constraints (subset, equality and exclusion) and how exclusive-or constraints combine exclusion and disjunctive mandatory constraints. Part 4 discussed the basics of modeling and mapping subtypes. Part 5 discussed mapping subtypes to separate tables, and occurrence frequency constraints. Part 6 discussed ring constraints. Part 7 discussed indexes, constraint layers, and data types. Part 8 examines options for controlling how table, column, and other model element names are generated when mapping an ORM model to a relational model.

What Meaning Means
by Fabian Pascal

By definition random data has no informational content. Only data that is organized in some way, that is, structured in accordance to some organizing principle, carries meaning (see Unstructured Thinking). An organizing principle (or structure) is a central element of meaning that is captured via a data model, the other elements being data types, integrity and manipulation.

A 3D Software Architecture Framework:
A Formal Representation
by George Jucan

The 3D extension of Zachman’s Framework was introduced in July 2002 in the article A 3D Software Architecture Framework. A new dimension (depth) was added to the original 2D framework enabling a complete specification of each of the original artifacts.

Necessary Conditions for High Quality Conceptual Schemata:
Two Wicked Problems
by Esko Marjomaa

The questions of quality may be divided into four distinct classes, namely, ontological, epistemological, value-theoretical, and pragmatic. However, there are plenty of important problems the solutions of which have bearings on the different classes. Some of the problems are very tricky, and we shall explore two of them, (1) How does the basic ontology affect the form and content of the resulting conceptual model?, and (2) What is the status of formalization in pragmatics? There are good reasons to claim that the answers to these questions in great deal also settle the other ones.